SEV Biblia, Chapter 21:13
Y les dice: Escrito est: Mi Casa, Casa de oracin ser llamada; mas vosotros cueva de ladrones la habis hecho.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Matthew 21:13
Verse 13. My house shall be called the house of prayer] This is taken from Isa. lvi. 7. But ye have made it a den of thieves.] This is taken from Jeremiah vii. 11.
Our Lord alludes here to those dens and caves in Judea, in which the public robbers either hid or kept themselves fortified.
They who are placed in the Church of Christ to serve souls, and do it not, and they who enjoy the revenues of the Church, and neglect the service of it, are thieves and robbers in more senses than one.
Our Lord is represented here as purifying his temple; and this we may judge he did in reference to his true temple, the Church, to show that nothing that was worldly or unholy should have any place among his followers, or in that heart in which he should condescend to dwell. It is marvellous that these interested, vile men did not raise a mob against him: but it is probable they were overawed by the Divine power, or, seeing the multitudes on the side of Christ, they were afraid to molest him. I knew a case something similar to this, which did not succeed so well. A very pious clergyman of my acquaintance, observing a woman keeping a public standing to sell nuts, gingerbread, &c., at the very porch of his Church, on the Lord's day, "desired her to remove thence, and not defile the house of God, while she profaned the Sabbath of the Lord." She paid no attention to him. He warned her the next Sabbath, but still to no purpose. Going in one Lord's day to preach, and finding her still in the very entrance, with her stall, he overthrew the stall, and scattered the stuff into the street. He was shortly after summoned to appear before the royal court, which, to its eternal reproach, condemned the action, and fined the man of God in a considerable sum of money!
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 13. And said unto them, it is written , etc.] In ( Isaiah 56:7). My house shall be called the house of prayer . These are the, words of God, calling the temple his house, which was built according to the plan he gave; and was the place of his worship, and where he dwelt, and vouchsafed his presence to his people; and signifying, that in time to come, it should be an house of prayer; not for the Jews only, but for the Gentiles also: for all people, as it is expressed by the prophet, and cited by Mark; and particularly this part of it, in which were the money changers and sellers of doves; for that was the court of the Gentiles, where they were admitted to pray, and perform other parts of worship. These words are rightly applied by Christ to the temple; nor can the Jews themselves deny it; for their own Targum paraphrases it thus, ydqm tyb , the house of my sanctuary shall be called an house of prayer; or shall be one; for the meaning is not that it should go by such a name, but should be for such use, and not for buying and selling, and merchandise, to which use the Jews now put it: hence it follows, but ye have made it a den of thieves . These are the words of Christ, affirming what is complained of in ( Jeremiah 7:11) and applying it to the present case, on account of the wicked merchandise, unlawful gain, avarice and extortion, of the priests and other officers of the temple, who had a considerable share in these things; and to whom the temple was, and by them used, as a den is to and by thieves and robbers, where they shelter themselves; for these persons robbed both God and man, and the temple was a sanctuary to them: here they screened themselves, and, under the appearance of religion and devotion, devoured widows houses, plundered persons of their substance, and were full of extortion and excess.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 12-17 - Christ found some of the courts of the temple turned into a market for cattle and things used in the sacrifices, and partly occupied by the money-changers. Our Lord drove them from the place, as he had done a his entering upon his ministry, Joh 2:13-17. His works testified of his more than the hosannas; and his healing in the temple was the fulfilling the promise, that the glory of the latter house should be greater than the glory of the former. If Christ came now into man parts of his visible church, how many secret evils he would discove and cleanse! And how many things daily practised under the cloak of religion, would he show to be more suitable to a den of thieves than to a house of prayer!
Greek Textus Receptus
και 2532 CONJ λεγει 3004 5719 V-PAI-3S αυτοις 846 P-DPM γεγραπται 1125 5769 V-RPI-3S ο 3588 T-NSM οικος 3624 N-NSM μου 3450 P-1GS οικος 3624 N-NSM προσευχης 4335 N-GSF κληθησεται 2564 5701 V-FPI-3S υμεις 5210 P-2NP δε 1161 CONJ αυτον 846 P-ASM εποιησατε 4160 5656 V-AAI-2P σπηλαιον 4693 N-ASN ληστων 3027 N-GPM
Vincent's NT Word Studies
13. Thieves (lhstwn). Rev., correctly, robbers. See on Matt. xxvi. 55; Luke x. 30.
Robertson's NT Word Studies
21:13 {A den of robbers} (spelaion leistwn). By charging exorbitant prices.
